Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said:

“School leaders – like parents – see the need for action, including age restrictions on social media. However, it is clear a ban alone will not be a panacea to all the risks posed by social media and the online world, and it will need to be supported by a much wider package of measures, so we welcome the commitment by government to take action on gaming services and live streaming platforms too.

“There must be a resolute focus on ensuring that social media companies and online providers are not absolved from taking responsibility to make their platforms safe for children and young people, alongside increased government monitoring and regulation to ensure they do so.

“Any move to raise the minimum age for social media use to 16 will need to be supported by truly effective age verification measures. Even the current minimum age of 13 is difficult to enforce, so if the threshold is raised this could prove harder still, as we have seen in Australia.

“Focusing on a social media ban at the expense of broader action to ensure technology companies get their houses in order, would risk letting them off the hook.”